A/N: Sorry this took me so long. Without pouring out my boring past few months, I got sidetrcked. forgive me?
So far, Abby has been kidnapped by McGee and Ari. Gibbs was given a total of 60 hours to find her alive, 24 to find her unharmed. About 18 hours in, he's found her dead body. She was found at the farm where they kept Kate. All I remember of the place is thelivingroom with all the computersand the dining room, so everything else is made up. Any mistakes are in fact my own.
The phone didn't even ring twice before Ducky picked it up, but to Gibbs it felt like longer than an eternity. How dare Ducky ignore him at a time like this?
"Hello?"
When Ducky answered the phone, Gibbs felt his mouth suddenly go dry. How was he going to tell his best friend that Abby, Ducky's surrogate daughter, was dead?
"Jethro, are you there?"
"Y-Yeah, I'm here Ducky," Gibbs finally managed to croak out.
Ducky wasted no time in asking the question on everyone's mind. "How is my dear Abigail?"
Before Ducky had even finished his question, Gibbs heard Kate and Tony trying to ask their own questions.
"Gibbs, is Abby alive?" asked Kate frantically, her voice echoing shakily through the phone.
Always the optimist, Tony's only question was, "How long are you going to keep Abby from coming back to work Boss?"
"Please excuse them Jethro." Gibbs all but saw Ducky turn to them and give them each a look. "They forget themselves. How is dear Abigail?"
"Duck, Abby is- She's-" Gibbs couldn't finish his sentence without crying, so he fell silent and let the tears roll unchecked down his face.
"Jethro?" Ducky's voice was suddenly soft and full of sorrow. After a long pause, he finally managed to quietly ask the inevitable question. "She's not coming back, is she?"
Gibbs shook his head before remembering that Ducky couldn't see him. "No Duck, she's not," he whispered.
Gibbs heard Kate gasp and let out something between a choke and a sob, and knew that Ducky must have done something to alert them about Abby's fate. Of course, it was all based on assumptions. It seemed as though life itself was an assumption, as he could scarcely pay attention to anything but the pale girl he had once known and loved lying on the table. He almost felt worse for Kate than he did for himself. After all, Abby had been her best friend. And what had he been? Merely a friend who was too afraid to make it into anything more. He could only imagine how Ducky and Tony would react once they were out of her presence. For know, knowing the two of them like he did, he knew they would stay strong; pillars of vitality in the midst of the end of the world as they knew it.
"Jethro, do I-" Ducky drew in a deep breath, invariably preparing himself for what he knew he should do. "Should we bring the van?"
Gibbs knew exactly what Ducky was thinking, and couldn't bear the things it entailed.
"No Duck, you can't cut her up like she's just a- How can we just treat her- No, I won't allow it."
Ducky sighed heavily. "Jethro, you know we have to do it. We have to do her justice."
"NO! Ducky, I- we've defiled her enough already, I won't let you slice her up like she's another one of your experiments!"
"If it were you, what would you have us do?"
"It's not me though, it's her. We're going to catch the bastard, and then we'll give her a proper funeral, without ever touching her body with any of your stupid knives and saws and-"
"Jethro, I'm not going to argue with you. We'll be there in a couple of hours. I am sorry, but you know we have to do it."
Ducky's tone made Gibbs fight back his tears. "Ducky, we can't." He tried feebly, for the last time.
"No one understands how you feel better than I do, and I am just as reluctant about it as you. But what if it leads us to him Jethro? Won't that be what she wanted?" At Gibbs' unexpected silence, Ducky continued. "We'll be seeing you shortly. Don't do anything stupid, alright?" Gibbs didn't reply. "Jethro?"
"Yeah, I hear you Duck."
"Very well then. Would you like Caitlin or Tony to stay on the phone with you?"
Gibbs immediately remembered his two Junior Agents and decided to take charge again. His voice took on an overly authoritative tone that came off as more than harsh. "I can take care of it. Just get over here quickly."
He looked at Abby's body and bit his lip. She was so limp and lifeless. Of course, it was even worse that she was wearing a long and form-fitting white dress. He suddenly realized what it was, and felt a surge of hatred. It wasn't a dress; it was Abby's funeral gown. Not that she didn't look- Well, perhaps good wasn't exactly an appropriate word considering the circumstances, but she didn't look bad in it. When Gibbs got his hands on Ari, the man, were he was worth being called that, would be worse than dead.
"Jethro? Will you be alright?"
Gibbs fought hard to keep his tone light and careless. It sounded fake, even to his own ears. "I'll be fine Duck. I think I'll just take a look around."
"You're quite sure that you'll be okay?"
"Of course I will be Ducky."
Gibbs still hadn't lost his tone, and it worried Ducky, but he knew that now was not a time for more arguments. "Alright then Jethro, if you say so."
"I do Duck, and I'll see you in a few hours." With that as his only goodbye, Gibbs hung up, suddenly wanting no more connection with anyone who knew about Abby. Perhaps if he kept himself busy and turned it into just another crime scene, it would make the body disappear.
